Aria cast her awareness down the track as far as it would go, trying to find the bottom. She found none. Wherever the bottom of the crack was, it was outside her ten-mile range. The length of the crack similarly defied her understanding. It began near the prison, about half a mile from where she had hidden, but its other end was similarly out of her range.

Alogun wore a calm expression, but Aria was not fooled. There was an uncertainty to his movements. He knelt on the edge of the gully and felt the dirt, pressing down as if trying to feel its stability. Next, he rubbed a portion of the dirt through his fingers. The gathered attendants watched expectantly, as if he would explain the occurrence and all would be well. Instead, he ordered most of them back to their places and addressed the one who had fetched him.

“Go back and fetch more people,” he said. “Post some on both ends of this and have them inform me if it grows. Have some others measure its length.”

While they went to work, he stood still and pensive. With his back to the attendants, hints of his true feelings shone on his face: frustration, anger, and worry.

Chalik arrived minutes later. She made her attendants stand back as she spoke with Alogun, using low voices that would not carry.

“Can you explain this?” She asked.

“It seems that Tivelo’s construction is not as stable as we thought,” Alogun said. He looked at Chalik with very expressive eyes. “I suspect that he never made any plans to stop our actions. He knew our whole world would disintegrate without him. All he had to do was sit and wait for us to realize our mistake.”

Both deities cast glances back at Tivelo’s still form.

“This is happening in the other realms?” Chalik asked.

“I have not checked, but I would bet on it.”

“Even the lower realm? There are mortals there. I thought he cared about the rabble.”

“Achi cared. And Achi is dead.”

Chalik fell into silence. “You need to confirm it first. You can’t make assumptions.”

Alogun smirked. “I’ve already examined the ground. And I know what the ground in the other realms feel like. They’ll have the same instability. But, of course, keep hoping until you see the proof.”

“We can return to our original realm,” Chalik said.

“Of course,” Alogun smiled. “Just as soon as we pierce the barrier enough to determine if it still exists. Of course, the widespread craters, absence of an atmosphere, dearth of water would present an obstacle. But maybe we can go back in time before Garo and his ilk blasted the place into rubble. Then, everything will be perfect!”

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Chalik scowled. “Don’t scream at me. I’m thinking of solutions.”

“Stop thinking,” Alogun said. “The only way this plan succeeded was if Tivelo never discovered it. But he did, because Garo cannot be trusted with anything larger than a thimble.”

“Casting blame will get us nowhere. And don’t forget, you chose to leave the implementation to Garo.”

“He forced his way into the group. Remember, I told you that he was an idiot.”

Their voices had rapidly risen so that the attendants could hear them. Chalik brought the conversation down to the proper decibels.

“Blame him later,” she said. “What do we do now?”

“I need to determine the rate of disintegration. If we can find someone with the right skillset, we might be able to arrest the decay. But that depends on if the flaw is something Tivelo added, if it its stability was simply too difficult for him. If he has been holding it together from the beginning, we won’t have a choice but to bring him back. No one else has the sheer breadth of his power.”

Chalik nodded, sighing as she did so. “Do what you need to. I’ll leave a message for Garo and get a list of the abilities of the other deities. Still, if we can’t fix it - “

“I’ll kill myself and let the rest of you spend eternity floating in a landless void,” Alogun said. “No one will revive Achi.”

Chalik did not seem to share that certainly. “We’ll consider it,” she said. “We might be able to salvage the situation.”

Alogun laughed. “Go, recall all the examples of Tivelo’s rage and tell me again if you want to throw yourself at his mercy.”

Chalik left soon after, looking so disturbed, even her attendants noticed it. Alogun followed soon after leaving Aria along with the guards. As soon as the deities were gone, they began chattering among themselves. Fear and worry filled the area devoid of any attendant hope. All of them knew Tivelo. They knew that they were doomed.

Aria searched her own realm for hours, looking for cracks. It was as big as the lower realm and filled with geographical diversity. She could barely believe that Achi or Tivelo was capable of such a feat, and she was not the least bit surprised that the result was unstable.

She found no cracks, no matter how she searched. Her realm was newer than the others. Perhaps that meant something, or perhaps Achi had stabilized it in some way. In either scenario, she had a problem. She would either suffer the disappearance of her home sometime in the future or be forced to watch everyone else disappear while she alone remained. Even if she wanted to give them shelter, Achi had said that no one else could be brought in.

The answer, as obvious to her as to Alogun, was that Achi and Tivelo needed to be revived.

If I was Achi’s love, Tivelo would probably pardon me.

Perhaps it was that easy. If she fell in love with Achi, she would go from being the cause of his death to his reason for living. Tivelo would not be able to harm her without harming his son.

A thought rang in her mind. Had he wanted that? Had he seen his son’s death coming, seen that he would eventually die without someone to love. And it would have been difficult to convince him to love someone other than Achi.

So, he had manipulated Aria, imprisoned her, and tortured her. At every step, Achi had been there to protect her and provide for her, forging a bond between them. Even now, she felt guilty for the way she had treated him. What could be more natural than for her to form a closer bond with him, especially since it was the only way to save herself and the world? Tivelo would have what he wanted, the mortals would be saved, and the other deities would be punished.

Disgust filled Aria, even as she acknowledged the plan’s brilliance. And she realized the flaw in it. Just as she had failed to manipulate Achi into helping her, Tivelo had failed to manipulate her. She knew his plan. She knew that he wanted her to fall in love with Achi. How would she do that when she hated his father so much?